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Source: IndieWire
The Academy Awards, easily the biggest annual celebration of the art of cinema known throughout the world, was once referred to by South Korean director Bong Joon-ho, whose works include “Memories of Murder” and “Okja”, as a “very local” event. This is a reference to the fact that historically, the Oscars have tended to mostly ignore films made outside the United States and/or the English language (apart from the token Best International Feature award), instead choosing to focus primarily on those made within the nation. Of course, this quote proved to be rather amusing in hindsight, as it was not too long after that Bong’s film “Parasite” wound up being named Best Picture at the 2020 Academy Awards, as well as awards for directing and screenwriting, the first non-English language film to achieve such a feat. Because of the South Korean film’s success, many have begun to wonder whether or not there would be repeated success for foreign films at future Academy Awards, since “Parasite” has proven that Oscar voters are willing to accept such films as being among the best of the best. Accomplishing that may still be an uphill battle, but if the most recent Academy Award nominations are any indication, there is a decent chance of a foreign film winning big outside the usual category.
Of course, one place where recognition of foreign films is guaranteed is the Best International Feature category. Here, one can find the five films made outside the United States that the Academy has deemed to be the year’s best: from Japan, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car”; from Denmark, Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s “Flee”; from Italy, Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Hand of God”; from Bhutan, Pawo Choyning Dorji’s “Luana: A Yak in the Classroom”; and from Norway, Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World”. However, while the Italian and Bhutanese films failed to score any nominations outside Best International Feature, the same cannot be said for any of the other three nominees, each of which were able to score at least one other nomination. It’s difficult to predict how likely they are to win in any of these other categories, but their presence in these categories is nonetheless admirable and appreciated.
First, there is “The Worst Person in the World”, the Norwegian dark romantic dramedy from director Joachim Tier, who also contributed to the writing of the film. He, alongside co-writer Eskil Vogt, have been nominated in the Best Original Screenplay category for the script they have crafted for this film. Here, they will compete alongside fellow nominees “Belfast” (written by Kenneth Branagh), “Don’t Look Up” (Adam McKay and David Sirota), “King Richard” (Zach Baylin), and “Licorice Pizza” (Paul Thomas Anderson). Needless to say, it’s a fairly competitive category, especially considering the presence of Hollywood mainstays like Kenneth Branagh and Paul Thomas Anderson, but that should not rule out the possibility of Tier and Vogt pulling an upset.
Then there is “Flee”, one of the rare foreign animated documentary films to come out (though not the first to be acknowledged by the Academy, as 2008’s “Waltz with Bashir” was nominated for Best International Feature at that year’s ceremony). Although it was unable to earn any nominations in the larger or more technical-oriented categories, its triple-threat status as an animated feature, a documentary, and an international feature have enabled it to land spots in the categories dedicated to films of those specific kinds of film. Its competitors for Best International Feature have already been mentioned, and for Best Animated Feature, “Flee” will have to overcome the other triple-threat that is Disney – which has distributed three nominated films in the category – “Encanto” and “Raya and the Last Dragon”, made by Walt Disney Animation Studios, and “Luca”, made by Pixar Animation Studios – as well as “The Mitchells vs the Machines”, made by Sony Pictures Animation and distributed by Netflix, if it is to win in this category. “Flee” may have better luck in the Best Documentary Feature category, though considering the competition – “Ascension”, “Attica”, “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), and “Writing with Fire” – a win is far from guaranteed.
Lastly, there is “Drive My Car”, which probably has the biggest chances of pulling off a victory akin to “Parasite” due to its presence in three of the Oscars’ most prestigious categories. Its screenplay, penned by director Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe, has been nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, for which it will compete against “CODA” (written by Sian Heder), “Dune” (Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth), “The Lost Daughter” (Maggie Gyllenhaal), and “The Power of the Dog” (Jane Campion). Hamaguchi has also been nominated for Best Director for the film; once again, he will vy for the award alongside Campion, as well as Kenneth Branagh for “Belfast”, Paul Thomas Anderson for “Licorice Pizza”, and Steven Spielberg for “West Side Story”. Finally, there is Best Picture, in which “Drive My Car” is one of the ten nominated films, with the other nine being the aforementioned “Belfast”, “CODA”, “Dune”, :Licorice Pizza”, “The Power of the Dog”, and “West Side Story”, as well as “Don’t Look Up”, “King Richard” and “Nightmare Alley”.
Also worth mentioning is the song “Dos Oruguitas” from the animated film Encanto, which has been nominated for Best Original Song alongside “Be Alive” from King Richard, “Down to Joy” from Belfast, “No Time to Die” from No Time to Die, and “Somehow You Do” from Four Good Days. Although the film was made domestically (by media giant Disney nonetheless), the song, composed and lyricized by Lin-Manuel Miranda, was written and sung entirely in Spanish, making this one of the few instances where a non-English song has been nominated in this category.
The odds of a foreign film being able to stand out at the Academy Awards may not be the highest, especially when there are so many strong contenders in each category. Still, if “Parasite” has proven anything, it’s that “difficult” and “impossible” are by no means synonyms, and there may be a chance yet that any of the nominated foreign films may be able to go home with more than just nominations.
